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Audi joins the retail races with Instagram photo app account

October 21, 2011

Audi's inaugural Instagram photo

Audi is speeding into photography with a new Instagram photo application account that will display new and vintage pictures from the brand to increase the German automaker’s mobile presence and social media network.

Audi posted its first Instagram picture two days ago, linking it to their Facebook wall. The brand is encouraging Facebook fans to follow its Instagram account to gain access to fresh content and insider pictures from their mobile devices.

“Audi has done a great job of leading the auto industry into new spaces and techniques with social [and] their foray into Instagram is no different,” said Ron Schott, senior analyst at Spring Creek Group, Denver. “While they’ve only uploaded what looks like two photos, they’re already amassing follower — and you can bet more will come.

“Being able to show interesting photos of new models is advantageous for Audi and they now have a space to not only share their own photos, but to connect with Audi drivers who also use Instagram, creating this sort of repository for great Audi shots,” he said.

Mr. Schott is not affiliated with Audi, but agreed to comment as a third-party social media expert.

Audi did not respond by press deadline.

Audi love
Audi posted its first Instagram picture on Oct. 18 of an airborne vintage Audi Quatro.

Within a day, the automaker had gained 61 followers and the photo garnered 42 likes.

By press deadline, the brand had 222 Instagram follower and the first picture had 100 likes and 16 comments.

Audi posted a second picture the following day, featuring a little girl hugging the trunk of a new Audi R8.

Audi's second instagram photo

The #WantAnR8 Twitter and Facebook campaign has been going on since the beginning of the month, asking consumers to tell Audi why they want an R8 and what they would do with it.

Likely in part to the success of this campaign on other social media platforms, the picture received 62 likes and seven comments in its first 20 hours.

At this rate, it appears as if the brand will be posting a picture at least once a day.

The Instagram app can be downloaded from Apple’s App Store for free, allowing consumers to create a profile and follow friends and brands in the same they would a Tumblr or Twitter account.

The difference with the Instagram platform is that users can take any photos from their mobile devices and edit them using various color filters for an artistic picture and post them to their Instagram accounts.

The pictures in the Instagram account can then be link and posted on Facebook and Twitter.

“Brands can create underground ad campaigns and even tease or showcase new product lines,” said Richard Pasqua, digital creative director at Siegel + Gale, New York.

“Because the quality of the Instagram filters, the photos have a very genuine, hand made quality to them which is counter to many mainstream advertising visuals – and this is a good thing,” he said.

Paving the road
Indeed, Audi already has a very active social media presence.

For example, Audi of America has Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Tumblr, foursquare and Flickr accounts.

The automaker has been using the platforms to spread the word about its newest account.

For example, Audi tweeted on Oct. 18, “We just joined the cool kids and got onto @instagram. Feel free to follow us etc. Also, our inaugural shot!” and linked to the first picture.

Audi links Instagram to its Twitter account

Additionally, the automaker posted a link to the new Instagram account under the slogan “Follow, Like, Comment & Enjoy The Ride,” promising exclusive content and pictures of branded vehicles around the world. 3,040 Facebook fans had liked the post by press deadline.

“By showcasing user-generated photos and messages Audi can present the brand as a family of car lovers not just a bunch of car owners,” Siegal + Gales’ Mr. Pasqua said.

“Because Instagram is such an easy way to produce and share photos, it provides Audi with another way to tap the enthusiasm of the owner and aspirational community,” he said.

Audi is one of the first automakers to join the picture community, which previously has been dominated by fashion brands and bloggers.

For example, Bergdorf used the app as an intergral part of its Shoe About Town campaign, which involved a map of New York that allowed fans to take pictures of their shoes in areas around they city and tag them on the Bergdorf map (see story).

Also, Oscar de la Renta and Bergdorf Goodman have used the photo app to further the feeling of community among consumers by linking photos on branded Twitter accounts (see story).

With Instagram’s 10,000,000 users and more than 250 million shared photos, it is no longer an platform to be brushed off by brands.

Also, their API allows for some incredible things to be built on top of the existing Instagram goodness, according to Mr. Schott.

“Brands have the ability to interact with a growing community of visually-minded people by being part of the Instagram community,” Mr. Schott said. “It’s more than just sharing images with friends, it’s about the artistic nature of the photos and the fact they are shared immediately with the community.

“For brands that create visually-stimulating products like clothing and automobiles, showing a product in a creative way with Instagram gives a whole new view on that product not usually seen in catalog or public relations photos,” he said.

Final Take
Kayla Hutzler, editorial assistant on Luxury Daily, New York

Kayla Hutzler is an editorial assistant on Luxury Daily. Her beats are automotive, consumer electronics, consumer packaged goods, financial services, media/publishing, software and technology, telecommunications, travel and hospitality, real estate, retail and sports. Reach her at kayla@napean.com.